


Early Sunsets

by offlinesongs



Category: Blink-182
Genre: Boys Kissing, Fluff, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Nail Polish, Short & Sweet, Sunsets, but blink and you’ll miss it, ok idk how to tag, tomark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28546164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/offlinesongs/pseuds/offlinesongs
Summary: “Have you ever painted your nails before?” Mark asked suddenly, breaking the silence as he lowered his magazine.Tom glanced up from his game of solitaire and gave a noncommittal “Nope”, before going back to his cards.“You wanna?”
Relationships: Tom DeLonge/Mark Hoppus
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	Early Sunsets

**Author's Note:**

> ok so i wrote this back in august at 3am on my phone and haven’t edited it since... it’s probably fine. anyway me and a friend of mine were talking about how cute it’d be if mark had painted tom’s nails at some point in time, so that’s where this idea came from :)

"Have you ever painted your nails before?" Mark asked suddenly, breaking the silence as he lowered his magazine.

Tom glanced up from his game of solitaire and gave a noncommittal "Nope", before going back to his cards.

"You wanna?" Mark asked, tearing the ad out of his magazine.

"Nah. That stuff's for girls," he shook his head, frowning as he moved the cards around.

"Doesn't have to be," Mark mused, picking up a guitar magazine and leafing through it disinterestedly.

"Why do you care? Paint your own nails if you're that concerned about it," Tom reasoned, not looking up.

"But I wanna see youuuuuu with painted nails," Mark whined, tossing it to the side and spreading out his arms and legs, avoiding Tom's game.

"Well, I don't wanna paint my nails, so you can fuck off," Tom rolled his eyes again, doing a good job of hiding his curiosity. Because, if he was being perfectly honest, he did want to paint his nails. But no; that stuff was for girls and fags, and he wasn't gay. Every teenage boy sometimes thinks about making out with his best friend. Right?

Mark scowled and kicked his foot out into Tom's game, sending cards everywhere.

"Hey! I was about to win, asshole!" Tom flicked a card at him, nailing him in the forehead. Mark flinched, but sat up, grinning evilly.

"Wanna play it like that, huh?" He leapt on Tom suddenly, who fell back in his surprise. Mark straddled his waist, forcing his shoulders to the ground as he tickled his sides.

"No, no, no, stop!" Tom gasped, trying to push Mark off of him as he laughed and wriggled beneath him.

Tom grabbed a fistful of Mark's hair, tugging hard. But instantly regretted it as Mark used the opportunity to push his hands under Tom's shirt and continuetickling him.

Mark paused, resting his hands on Tom's stomach. "Give up yet?" He asked smugly.

Tom huffed, trying his best to look annoyed as he blew a strand of hair out of his face. "What colour?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark grinned and skipped alongside Tom as they left the drugstore with a small bottle of black nailpolish. He began to pick at the protective seal, before Tom grabbed it.

"At least wait until we get home, jeez." He tried to sound exasperated, but hints of a smile still crept into his voice.

The sun was starting to dip behind the trees by the time they were walking up the stairs to Tom's room.

"We need paper towel," Tom told him.

"Why? I can be careful!"

"You have no idea what you're doing. And my Mom'll kill both of us if we spill it anywhere," Tom put his hands on his hips.

"Fine. Go get some, then," Mark sighed waving his hand around. Though, he had to admit Tom was right. He had no idea how to paint someone's nails, and Mrs. Delonge would have them both by the throats if anything happened to her precious floors.

Mark sat down cross-legged on the floor and removed the seal as he waited for Tom to come back.

He smiled as charmingly as he could as his friend took a seat across from him and covered the space between them in paper towels.

"Gimme your hand," Mark demanded, taking out the brush. Tom held out his right hand, a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips when Mark grabbed it softly.

Tom fidgeted slightly as the cool brush touched him. He watched as a few drops fell onto the paper towel and prayed that it wouldn't bleed through. He flinched and pulled his hand away as Mark slipped up and sent a streak of black up his ring finger.

"Mark! You're getting it everywhere!"

"Well, maybe if you would sit still! You're like a fuckin' paint shaker," Mark retorted, taking Tom's hand again.

Tom rolled his eyes, but stopped bouncing his leg. It wasn't that he wanted to make it easier for Mark, no, he just didn't want his fingers to be jet black for the next 2 weeks (or however long this shit lasts; he didn't know).

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Mark concentrating hard on keeping the nailpolish at least somewhat neat and Tom looking at him fondly.

"All done!" Mark smiled, putting the brush away. Tom looked down at his nails. It wasn't the most amazing job. Far from it. Half of it was on the tips of his fingers instead of his nails, and it wasn't layered on evenly, but for a first attempt, it was pretty good.

"How long does this shit take to dry?" Tom asked, admiring Mark's work.

"Uhhhhhh," Mark picked up the bottle. "Dunno."

"Alright, fuck this... come with me," Tom said, standing up.

"Why? Where are we going?"

"We're going to watch the sunset and let the wind dry my nails," Tom told him, extending his hand.

"But it's cold. And why do you even wanna watch the sunset? That's some girly sentimental shit," Mark huffed.

"Because sunsets are pretty. And you're not allowed to argue with me on that. And-" he reached over and carefully picked a blanket up between his wrists, so as not to smudge his nails. "Here."

Mark sighed and took the blanket, hoisting himself up. Tom grinned in triumph, walking over to the window.

"The window? That's not-" Mark watched as Tom slid open his bedroom window and crawled outside. He stuck his head out to see Tom taking a seat on a relatively flat part of the roof. "You know, when you said watching the sunset, I figured we would go downstairs and sit on the lawn... are your parents okay with you doing that?"

"Nope," He patted the spot next to him. "C'mere."

Mark carefully lifted one leg up and over the window ledge, slowly followed by the other. He was keenly aware of the roof's slope and general lack of safety rails. The last thing he needed was to fall off Tom's roof and smash his head open on the concrete in his backyard.

A cool breeze rustled his hair as Mark took a few tentative steps towards Tom and sat down beside him. "So."

"So," Tom repeated. He gestured to the scene in front of them. "I told you it was pretty."

The horizon was lit up with pink and orange hues as the sun dipped below it. When he squinted hard enough, Mark could see the first few stars littering the sky.

"Yeah, yeah, ok, it's nice," Mark conceded.

Tom nodded and went back to watching, blowing on his nails as he did.

Mark looked upwards, trying not to let a smile creep onto his face as he stared outwards at the setting sun. "They do look pretty cool."

"Hm?"

"Painted nails. On guys, I mean."

"I guess so," Tom tried to hide his smile as his cheeks turned slightly pink.

Mark continued to gaze up at the sky as more stars started to show themselves, but was soon distracted with watching Tom. His black nails, his tousled hair that looked perfect when it was messy, the contentment on his face as he gazed towards the sky, his eyes that were filled with starlight and wonder. Right there, in that very moment, with just the two of them sitting side by side under the open sky, it felt like nobody and nothing else mattered. They could just be happy.

"Can I kiss you?"

Tom stopped and turned to look at Mark with a slight frown on his face. "Sorry, what?"

"Nevermind, it's nothing." Mark quickly looked the other way to hide the blush creeping onto his face. A few moments of awkward silence passed that made him think that falling off the roof wouldn't be such a bad thing to happen after all.

"Mark?"

"Hm?"

"Yeah."

Mark looked for any signs of insincerity in Tom's demeanor, and after finding none, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and leaned forward.

It was hesitant and nervous, their lips hovered centimetres away from each other, before just barely brushing. Tom brought his hand up to gently cup Mark's face as the two committed more to the kiss.

It was nothing special; quick and chaste, but it was better than either of them could have ever imagined.

Heart pounding, Mark held his arm out to the side, inviting Tom to share his blanket with him. Tom wordlessly scooted over, snuggling into Mark's side as he draped the blanket over both of them. He could feel Tom shaking, could hear his uneven breathing.

"I've wanted to do that for awhile," Mark quietly confessed.

"Yeah. Me too," Tom said with a small laugh. "God, this is so stupid. Here I am, on my roof watching the fucking sunset with the guy I've been denying my crush on for God knows how long. And then he asks if he can kiss me. This is a dream, I know it is."

"You're right, this is a dream. We're all living in the Matrix, you know."

Tom playfully punched Mark in the arm. "You're such a dweeb, you know that?"

"Says the one who dragged me outside to watch the sunset," Mark pointed out

Tom let out a sigh of contentment. "Alright, smartass, I think my nails are dry," He brushed the tip of his finger across each nail, nodding when nothing smudged or came off.

"Wanna go back in and watch something?" Mark asked.

Tom nodded, standing up and holding his arms out to keep his balance. Mark took his hand, partly for stability and partly because he wanted to hold Tom's hand for a little while longer, as they made their way back into his bedroom.

"Still mad I made you paint your nails?" Mark asked smugly as he settled down onto the couch next to Tom.

Tom just rolled his eyes and snuggled into Mark's chest.


End file.
